Verdict with Ted Cruz: Legend Robert Duvall Passes plus Gavin Newsom Claims He's Disabled

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Episode: Verdict with Ted Cruz: Legend Robert Duvall Passes plus Gavin Newsom Claims He's Disabled
Date: February 19, 2026
Hosts: Ben Ferguson and Sen. Ted Cruz

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Overview

In this episode, Ben Ferguson and Sen. Ted Cruz blend sharp political commentary with a heartfelt tribute to legendary actor Robert Duvall, who passed away at age 95. The episode pivots from entertainment to politics, dissecting a recent back-and-forth with California Governor Gavin Newsom—whose claim of being "historically illiterate" sparked a social media uproar. The hosts bring their trademark mix of humor and insight, unpacking hot-button political topics, social media drama, and classic Americana through both news and nostalgia.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

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Tribute to Robert Duvall (07:30–17:10)

• Legacy in Film:

  • Ted Cruz celebrates Duvall as “one of the greatest actors of his generation” and highlights his roles in To Kill a Mockingbird, Lonesome Dove, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, and Gone in 60 Seconds.
  • Special appreciation for Duvall’s skill in portraying nuanced, tough-but-tender older male characters.

• Notable Scenes and Reflections:

  • Ben and Ted introduce memorable Duvall clips:
    • Secondhand Lions bar scene (11:11–13:16): Showcases Duvall’s wisdom and calm toughness.
    • Lonesome Dove bar encounter (15:04–16:48): Demonstrates his iconic portrayal of Augustus McCrae.

• Personal Anecdotes:

  • Ted shares that Duvall was made an honorary Texas Ranger for Lonesome Dove and reflects on his Texan spirit, despite not being a native.
  • “Duvall insisted—he’s not having a funeral. He said, don’t have a ceremony for me. Just...watch a good movie, tell a good story, sit around with friends and loved ones. I mean, that really is Duvall” (16:49).

• Legacy among Actors:

  • Connections to Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman; Cruz notes the loss of "modern day legends".

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Political Comedy: Gavin Newsom and “Disability” Dispute (21:24–36:12)

• Setting the Stage (21:24–22:35):

  • After recent criticism on their podcast, Gavin Newsom responds on Twitter, referencing his dyslexia in defense against accusations of historical illiteracy.

• Review of the Rupture:

  • Cruz and Ferguson replay the original comments comparing Newsom’s stance on federalizing the National Guard to past Democratic governors resisting federal law during the Civil Rights era (23:17–24:24).
  • “Newsom is apparently thoroughly historically illiterate. He said, we’ve never seen National Guards federalized in the states. I guess his history book does not discuss the civil rights movement.” (23:25, Cruz)

• Newsom’s Reaction & Disability Claim:

  • Newsom tweets: “Ted Cruz calling a dyslexic person illiterate is a new low, even for him.” (24:29–25:03)
  • Ben Ferguson responds: “I'm dyslexic, but that doesn’t mean you’re stupid...you can still be intelligent and be dyslexic, buddy.” (25:03)

• Cruz’s Social Media Response (25:21–27:26):

  • Cruz recounts his reply clarifying that “historically illiterate” refers to ignorance of history, not inability to read.
  • Provides historical fact-check: Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard in 1957 to enforce desegregation (25:24–26:14).
  • Describes internal competition between his own tweet and a meme devised by staff (Zoolander GIF)—leading to humorous “who got more views” banter (27:26–28:02).
    • Cruz: “The one I wrote has gotten a million views” (27:46).
    • Ferguson jokes about “hazing” Cruz’s team when bested (27:50).

• Behind the Scenes: Tweet Writing Process (29:49–33:50):

  • Cruz describes researching details using Google AI while waiting to play basketball, noting the ease of finding precise historical information now.
  • Ferguson pokes fun at Cruz missing free throws, suggesting it gave him time to craft the tweet.

• Debate on Newsom’s Response (33:58–36:12):

  • Cruz asserts that being “a doofus” has nothing to do with being dyslexic, and calls out Newsom’s use of disability as a shield from criticism.
  • The hosts further mock ideological echo chambers and ahistorical political rhetoric, with side discussions about AOC’s foreign policy gaffe and the “Marxist” bent of some modern Democrats.
  • Memorable line from Ferguson: “You can’t fix stupid, sir. You just can’t fix stupid.” (36:12)

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Other Noteworthy Segments

• Comedy and Pop-Culture Parallels:

  • Cruz jokes that Gavin Newsom is “the young punk in the bar” (21:34), likening current political antagonists to characters in Duvall’s movies.
  • Self-deprecating banter about age and playing basketball further lightens the tone.

• Meeting Robert Duvall?

  • Cruz admits, “I wish I never got a chance to meet [Duvall]...I wanted to meet him, but we just never crossed paths. But my heart is beating for an American legend who left us.” (17:00–17:03)

• Quick Petty Politics and Social Media Strategy:

  • Inside look at how political responses are created and tested for impact.

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Context | |-----------|---------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:06 | Ted Cruz | “Gavin Newsom is having a hysterical bout of crying anxiety because…the last episode of Verdict criticized his imbecility and anti-American leftism…” | | 07:30 | Ted Cruz | “Robert Duvall lived to 95…He’s one of the greatest actors of his generation…His first major movie role was in To Kill a Mockingbird.” | | 16:49 | Ted Cruz | “Duvall insisted—he’s not having a funeral…Just watch a good movie, tell a good story…” | | 23:25 | Ted Cruz | “Newsom is apparently thoroughly historically illiterate...I guess his history book does not discuss the civil rights movement.” | | 25:03 | Ben Ferguson | "I'm dyslexic, but that doesn’t mean you’re stupid...you can still be intelligent and be dyslexic, buddy." | | 27:46 | Ted Cruz | "The one I wrote has gotten a million views." | | 31:39 | Ted Cruz | "...the whole details of the second paragraph. The beauty of Google AI. It took me 30 seconds." | | 36:12 | Ben Ferguson | “You can’t fix stupid, sir. You just can’t fix stupid.” |

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [07:30] – TED CRUZ begins Robert Duvall tribute
• [10:50] – SECONDHAND LIONS clip played/discussed
• [15:04] – LONESOME DOVE clip played/discussed
• [17:00] – Final personal reflections on Duvall
• [21:24] – POLITICS: Gavin Newsom as “young punk”; segue to Newsom drama
• [23:17] – Replay of previous episode’s controversial critique
• [24:29] – Newsom’s “dyslexia defense” tweet addressed
• [25:21] – Hosts discuss dyslexia, intelligence, and political rhetoric
• [27:26] – Social media “GIF vs tweet” inside jokes
• [29:49] – Behind-the-scenes of crafting political tweets (with AI)
• [33:58] – Reflection on Newsom’s debate potential and “dyslexia defense” revisited
• [36:12] – Ferguson delivers “you can’t fix stupid” send-off

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Tone and Style

The episode is conversational, witty, and often self-deprecating, infused with a mutual love of both politics and classic film. Ted Cruz offers “movie buff” insight while wielding fact-based political critique; Ben Ferguson plays both straight man and humorist. The language is direct, colloquial, and full of jibes, both at political adversaries and at themselves.

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Conclusion

For listeners, this episode offers a rich blend of heartfelt cultural nostalgia and pointed political humor. The centerpiece Duvall tribute is deeply personal and packed with classic Americana, while the Newsom discussion provides insight into how public figures—and their teams—shape political narratives for maximum impact. The hosts’ playful antagonism and camaraderie keep the commentary sharp, lively, and accessible to anyone, fan or first-timer alike.

Transcript

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ben Ferguson]

that's odoo.com welcome it is verdict with center, Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. It's so nice to have you with us wherever you are listening to us. And don't forget, hit that subscribe or auto download button so you don't miss an episode. Plus, many of you are joining us on YouTube now and we say welcome. So if you're watching there on YouTube, you can. Nice to have you with us. And if you're listening on audio and you want to watch us on video as well, you can do that. Most of the episodes are now on YouTube. Grab it. Verdict with Ted Cruz on YouTube channel as well. Center, we've got quite a show to chat about today, including Gavin Newsome. He's a little cranky with us after our last episode. Apparently he didn't have a dictionary with him and he couldn't use AI apparently, to figure out what we were talking about and that's what made him so mad.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, look, we need to have an intervention. Gavin Newsom is having a hysterical bout of crying anxiety because the last episode of Verdict criticized his imbecility and anti American leftism as he traveled to Europe to attack this country and to say things that are blatantly false. It does help that even Twitter, which sometimes can be a fairly lefty forum, lit the poor guy on fire. I mean, it was so bad, I almost felt sorry for his very pretty anti American leftist self.

[Ben Ferguson]

You're kinder than me, you know.

[Ted Cruz]

Look, I'm a lover, not a fighter. You know, Ben, you're sometime really harsh. I'm all about the love.

[Ben Ferguson]

All about the love. Just check your Twitter account for proof.

[Ted Cruz]

Right. I. There. There you go. We're also gonna talk about Comrade Mandami. Comrade Mandami has been in office a little over a month and shock of all, Shock. What is he doing? To start off with, he's proposing a massive tax increase on the citizens of New York that will result in rents going up. And there is an irony in this and that he campaigned on saying he was gonna freeze rents, but then he discovered, okay, it turns out you need money to run a city, particularly if you want to run a socialist city where you want to spend massive amounts of money. And so we're going to break down what he's doing. We're also going to talk about the left in Minneapolis is spending real money trying to promote jury nullification. They don't want violent radical activists who assault law enforcement officers to be convicted. They're undermining our justice system. We're going to explain. And finally, at the end, we're going to say goodbye to an American movie classic. Robert Duvall, an extraordinary actor. We're gonna have a few words about him. He passed this week. He was 95 years old. He led an incredible life but nonetheless we're gonna say our farewells to to a one of a kind actor.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ted Cruz]

Look, Robert Di Valley lived to 95 years old. He was an incredible actor. He's one of the greatest actors of his generation. He was in. His first major movie role was in To Kill a Mockingbird.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

Where he played Boo Radley. And he had no lines, but he just simply, through his face, he turned sort of a weird, freakish, scary guy into someone deeply empathetic. And it was an introduction to a career where he had classic roles. He had classic roles in Lonesome Dove where he was the most badass Texas Ranger to have ever lived. He had a classic role in Apocalypse Now. Look, the phrase I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

Is an American classic. And for him to be squatting down bare chested, just explaining that and the look of the young GIs looking at the guy going, dude, what? Like that conveys a lot. But of all of the roles, the one that is my favorite, and it's a sentimental, is from the Godfather. He was Tom Hagen. He was the lawyer to the Corleone family, but he was an adopted brother. And of course, in the second movie, he gets let go by Michael Corleone because Michael says, you're not a wartime consigliere, you're a peacetime consigliere. And the portrayal he plays of sort of the calm lawyer for the mob, lawyer for mass murderers. The lawyer comes in and says, you don't want to screw with the Corleone family. I gotta say, you know, it's interesting. In 2011, Robert Duvall was named an honorary Texas Ranger. And it was his Lonesome Dove portrayal, but it is still. He was not actually a Texan. He was from California and Virginia and Maryland. But Texas loved him. Yeah, and he loved Texas. It was a mutual arrangement. I. I gotta say, I'm Sad. Look at 95. You know, every one of us is on a journey where we're going to shuffle off this mortal coil. But his acting body of work is incredible.

[Ben Ferguson]

He's incredible.

[Ted Cruz]

He was very close with Gene Hackman, another one of my, my favorite actors, and, and Dustin Hoffman, another incredible actor. They, they used to be roommates. They work together. I gotta say, Gene Hackman. I could watch Gene Hackman reading the newspaper and riveted.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, it'd be amazing.

[Ted Cruz]

And he was another actor in his 90s who just passed away. We're losing modern day legends, but, you know, Robert Duvall, a life well lived. And actually I'm gonna Call an audible. I want to play. I want to play. And particularly for those of you watching this on. On YouTube, I want to play a clip from. From one of Robert Duvall's great moments.

[Ben Ferguson]

Give a watch now, just for context, for everybody that's listening in the audio world only. This is a scene from back in 2003, secondhand lions, where two old guys walk into a bar with a bunch of young punks. Here it is. Hey, old man, how's that barbecue? Give me some.

[Robert Duvall (clip voice)]

We're busy. Before I get lost, all right?

[Odoo Ad Host]

What did you say?

[Robert Duvall (clip voice)]

Here's a perfect example of what I've been talking about. Since this boy was suckling on his mama's, he's been given everything but discipline. And now his idea of courage and manhood is to get together with a bunch of punk friends and ride around irritating folks. Too good natured to put a stop to it.

[Ted Cruz]

Hey. Who do you think you are, huh?

[Robert Duvall (clip voice)]

Just dumb kid. Hub. Don't kill him. Hub McCann. I fought in two world wars and countless smaller ones on three continents. I led thousands of men into battle with everything from horses and swords to artillery and tanks. I've seen the headwaters of the Nile and tribes of natives no white man had ever seen before. I've won and lost a dozen fortunes, killed many men, and loved only one woman with a passion a flea like you could never begin to understand. That's who I am.

[Ben Ferguson]

Show these old bastards you stuff. Get out your knife.

[Robert Duvall (clip voice)]

Yeah. Now, boys, you're fixing to let those teenage hormones get you into the world of trouble. Damn it, Garth. Did I ask you to butt in? Huh? You just come out of the hospital. Well, hey, there's only four of them.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, but, well, look, look, you fight this one first, and then I'll let

[Robert Duvall (clip voice)]

you fight the other three after, okay? Yeah. Watch this, kid. Now you.

[Ted Cruz]

You better pick that knife up. Cause, son, you're gonna need all the help you can get.

[Ben Ferguson]

Come on, Frankie, get him, Frankie.

[Ted Cruz]

Cut him, Frankie.

[Ben Ferguson]

Frankie, get him.

[Ted Cruz]

Get him, Frankie.

[Robert Duvall (clip voice)]

Cut him. Shoot all the straight in the book, okay? You hold it wrong, son. Not like this. You always do it like this. Smooth. All right, try.

[Ted Cruz]

Come on, Frankie.

[Ben Ferguson]

Come on, Frankie, get him.

[Ted Cruz]

Frankie, cut him.

[Ben Ferguson]

Stop.

[Ted Cruz]

Stop, stop. Get in there and help.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's so good. I, I just. I. By the way, if you're listening on audio only, I wish two things.

[Ted Cruz]

If you haven't watched that clip, you need to watch. You've got Robert Duvall as. As an old dude, You've got Michael Caine as his buddy. And then you've got Haley Joel Osmond as the young kid watching this old dude beat the living crap out of these four punks. And it's, you know, I love Michael Caine. Comes back with a shotgun and it's like, all right, let me stop you because I got four guys with a knife. Drop your knives. They drop their knives. And, and Robert Duvall is like, come on, let me, let me fight him. And he's like, okay, fight. The first one, you pick your knife up. The other three stay back. And then once you beat him up, you can beat the other three. Like it, it's classic. Old, like badass. And, and, and that, that, that is Robert Duvall.

[Ben Ferguson]

By the way, did you ever see gone in 60 seconds? Duvall was in amazing. He was. I think it was Otto. Was his name in the movie. If you've never watched that one, like, it's not.

[Ted Cruz]

It.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's just I grew up and it was younger in like Fast Cars and Stealing Cars and Nicholas Cage and naval. He was unbelievable in that one as well. So grab it. Yeah. So there you go. All right. Well, I'm glad we did. I'm glad I called the audible Hill. I knew you.

[Ted Cruz]

Okay, okay, hold on a second now. Hold on. If you're gonna do this, there's another clip we gotta watch which, which is from. From lonesome dove. Augustus McCrae walking in this old weathered Texas Ranger walking into a bar. And let's say there's a punk ass bartender back to. There's a lot of similarity between these two scenes. But, but, but it's part of why I love Duvall. He got better as an old guy. So. So listen to. Listen and watch this great clip from Lonesome Dove.

[Robert Duvall (clip voice)]

What I like about the man, he's a philosopher.

[Ted Cruz]

He's a lawyer.

[Robert Duvall (clip voice)]

I hired him.

[Ted Cruz]

Give you somebody to talk to.

[Robert Duvall (clip voice)]

That'll free the rest of us up. Maybe we'll get a little work done. I like a shot of whiskey and so would my companion. It ain't too much trouble. Howdy, boy. You got a good game going there. You got mudden years or what?

[Ted Cruz]

Rye or what'll it be, old timer?

[Robert Duvall (clip voice)]

Rye will do, provided it gets here quick.

[Ted Cruz]

Darn cowboys ought to broom yourselves off before you walk in here. Get all the sand we need without the customers bringing it in.

[Public Ad Host]

That'll be a dollar.

[Robert Duvall (clip voice)]

Now, besides, the whiskey, I think will require a little respect. I'm Captain Augustus McCrae. This is Captain Mudro F. Kahl. Now, if you care to turn around, you can see how we looked when we was Younger. And the people around here wanted to make us Senator. Now the thing we didn't put up with then was dawdling service. And as you can see, we still don't put up with it.

[Ben Ferguson]

By the way, in that scene, that's Tommy Lee Jones who says nothing at all, which is pretty funny. But you can tell in his facial expressions he's having the time of his life making this movie with Duvall.

[Ted Cruz]

No, no, no. And they wanted Duvall to play the role that Tommy Lee Jones played. And Duvall said no. Augustus McCrae was the only role he played. Wouldn't do the movie if he didn't get get or the. It was actually a television series, a four part series. But you know it it. He was just an all time classic. 95 years. Well, by the way, Duvall insisted. Do you know he's not having a funeral?

[Ben Ferguson]

He's not.

[Ted Cruz]

He said don't have a ceremony for me. Just, just go and watch a good movie, tell a good story, sit around with friends and loved ones. I mean that really is Duvall.

[Ben Ferguson]

I kind of dig that.

[Ted Cruz]

I wish I never got a chance to meet you.

[Ben Ferguson]

I just say, did you ever meet him?

[Ted Cruz]

He was a conservative. I heard fabulous things. I knew people who knew him. I wanted to meet him, but we just never crossed paths. But my heart is beating for an American legend who left us.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ben Ferguson]

Let's get to the politics now. And. And we'll start with. Yeah, you couldn't get any further from Duvall with Gavin Newsom. Gavin Newsom tracks.

[Ted Cruz]

Hold on a second. Gavin Newsom is the young punk in the bar.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's true.

[Ted Cruz]

And by the way, you and I get to be, I think in this story, Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes.

[Ted Cruz]

Although there is one thing that's stretching that, which is Tommy Lee Jones is silent in that scene. And Ben, you've never been silent in any scene.

[Ben Ferguson]

No, that's also very true. That's why they pay me the big bucks, Right? That's why they pay me the big bucks.

[Ted Cruz]

You know, like the old time lawyers. They pay you by the word.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. Right. All right, so. So let's set the stage for this story. You and I do a show, we talk about it. We're going to play part of that in a second. But I want to know, when did you. And who. How fast did you find out? After he tweeted at us, getting all cranky. He got. He got his under underwear in a wad. Is the. Is the way I described it. My phone, actually. I started getting random texts from people. I'm like, what are you talking about? I was in a meeting. I'm like, what? Like, they're like, dude, Newsom's like throwing shade and he's really upset with you guys. And I was like, well, that's what I would expect from a California liberal, to be honest with you. When did you find out?

[Ted Cruz]

So our last podcast, we lit up AOC and Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom, all of whom went to Munich, to the Munich security conference. And they all made fools of themselves. They were all trying to run for president. They're all trying to be impressive. And they all just like totally be clowned themselves. And AOC and Whitmer showed they know nothing about foreign policy or national security. Gavin Newsom did something different. He just decided to demonize law enforcement. And he made a statement in particular. He said, no president has ever before federalized the National Guard. And that. That's just laughably false. So. So I want to play the clip from what we said in the very Last podcast. And this is the clip that so triggered young Gavin.

[Ben Ferguson]

Listen, let's be very clear, Senator. That is Gavin Newsom comparing American law enforcement to Nazis.

[Ted Cruz]

Yep. Yep. Which. Which, by the way, is what Obama was doing too, by the way. Just like AOC and Whitmer, Newsom is apparently thoroughly historically illiterate. He said, we've never seen National Guards federalized in the states. I guess his history book does not discuss the civil rights movement. He's never heard of a president named Dwight D. Eisenhower. He's never heard of sending the National Guard into Southern states. When Democrats who refused to desegregate schools resisted, Eisenhower sent the National Guard in. The pattern is the same. In this instance. You have Democrats who are saying, we refuse to comply with federal immigration law. Then you had in the 50s and 60s, you had Democrats saying we refused to comply with civil rights law. In both instances, it is lawless Democrats attacking law enforcement. You know, Gavin Newsom is proudly following the tradition of Bull Connor, another Democrat politician.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's all that you really said. And then his response was a total freakout.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah. So Gavin, on Twitter, he sent out a tweet, and like all good Democrats, when. When caught being full of crap, he responds by attacking and screaming, you cannot criticize me. And in particular, what he said is Ted Cruz calling a dyslexic person illiterate is a new low, even for him. Now, let's start out. First of all, who the hell knew Gavin Newsom was dyslexic? I didn't know that. Did you? Did you know that?

[Ben Ferguson]

No, I did not. And, you know, it's funny, I'm dyslexic, but that doesn't mean you're stupid, by the way.

[Ted Cruz]

By the way, I didn't know you were dyslexic either.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, because I don't use it as a crutch. But, like, since Gavin's bringing up, like, it's some, like, you. You, like, you went off the. The rails on him. Like, how dare you do that? Like, I'm just like. So it doesn't mean you're dumb. It doesn't make you mean stupid statements because you're dyslex, but you can still be intelligent and be dyslexic, buddy.

[Ted Cruz]

So Gavin's dissent defense is.

[Ben Ferguson]

Is.

[Ted Cruz]

Is you're not allowed to criticize me because I have a disability. That is, if there's anything to embody the idiocy of today's Democrat party, that. That does it pretty well. So it's interesting. I sent two Responses. The first response I sent was, I didn't say you couldn't read you clown with the emoji of the clown. I said you were, quote, historically illiterate because you apparently have no idea that Eisenhower federalized the National Guard to stop Democrat governors from defying federal law. Specifically, on September 23, 1957, President Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10730, federalizing the Arkansas National Guard and ordering U.S. army troops, the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Arkansas.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yep.

[Ted Cruz]

This action broke the blockade by Democrat Governor Orville Faubus, allowing the Little Rock Nine to desegregate Central High School. Now, Gavin had no response to that. Now I got to tell you, let me bring you a little bit inside the scenes. So my team had a different response that they suggested. And I have a whole social media communications team. They had a different response. Their different response was to send out a tweet with a gif and a gif of Zoolander.

[Ben Ferguson]

There's a mini video just so everybody doesn't know what that is like. Some people may not realize what that it's like the mini little video kind of thing you send out.

[Ted Cruz]

So it's Ben Stiller as Zoolander and he's looking down at a sign that says the Gavin Newsom center for what? Kids who don't know what historically illiterate means and who want to learn to do other stuff good too. So that my team put that together. I did not put that together. I saw that and I sent mine instead. And then my team got all upset and they're like, wait, you didn't like ours? And I said, you know what, let's have a competition. Send that one too.

[Ben Ferguson]

Let's put them both out and see which one wins.

[Ted Cruz]

Both out the Internet and see which one wins. So as of we're now 12:21am the Ben Stiller GIF, which was clever, has gotten 397,000 views.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay.

[Ted Cruz]

The one I wrote has gotten a million views.

[Ben Ferguson]

So how long are you going to haze them on this data that you have? That's undisputed.

[Ted Cruz]

Okay, so not, not to brag too much, but I did beat the team by 250%.

[Ben Ferguson]

But just for everyone, I want to take them behind the scenes. When, Senator, when you are correct and your team has these moments. I enjoy not being on that team. I enjoy being a spectator. But I do know.

[Ted Cruz]

But hold on, hold on. I'm going to be gracious for a minute. I'm going to be gracious for a minute. Although I got two and a half times as much coverage as they did in terms of people watching it. I will say the comments on their gift, the folks that saw it loved it. So I'm just gonna go through a few. Joe Lonsdale, good friend of ours, big tech entrepreneur. He's been on the podcast. He did the crying emoji. Another guy said, whoever came up with this meme needs a. Needs a raise. Another guy said, sir, this is a 10 for 10 post. It's too bad Newsom won't be able to read it. Another person had a gift from the Simpsons. Hello, 91 1. I'd like to report a murder.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah,

[Ted Cruz]

it. The volume of comments. The ex trolling continues. Good, good picture of Trump toasting crying Trump emojis. Cruz clearly won this round. Bwa. Ha ha ha ha. It's like this put you in my top five favorite politicians. I'm really depressed. Who are the other four? Yeah, right. Well done. Good sir. Well done. Spitting out. He went to school at the leering school.

[Ben Ferguson]

So the team is gonna get accolades for quality over quantity.

[Ted Cruz]

That's so. And I gave them that. Actually, their comments, the people who saw it, loved it. They're like, this is a frigging great comment. And so you know what I said, I'm glad we sent them both. Yeah, we reached more people. Minehead kind of substance. I'm going to tell you another admission. You know how I wrote my, my tweet?

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. How you do.

[Ted Cruz]

How.

[Ben Ferguson]

No, no, I'm saying how.

[Ted Cruz]

Tell me how I know you said. Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

Oh, yeah. No, I like, I know you wrote it, but I can, I can all what people understand about you is when you, what you can check out of any conversation if you have something clever that you want to get out in the. Into the world of. Of the Internet as you described earlier. I would call it X social media. I'm just, I'm just gonna hit you on AIDS there. Like putting it out into the Internet. Yes. Okay. Al Gore, he created it back in the day. But. But when you. When there's nothing scarier than watching TC at dinner just quietly over there and disengaging from the conversation for about five minutes. And you know what's coming. It's gonna be something really entertaining on the Internet, I can promise you that.

[Ted Cruz]

So my team had sent me this gift Monday night. I was playing hoops. And as you know, I play hoops twice a week. And so it was about three hours of. And I had, after a couple of games, we lost one game. And so I didn't hit my free throw. So I was sitting waiting for the next game. And so I typed this responding. And it's actually a very cool thing about AI. So the first part of it that I sent, which is because you apparently have no idea that Eisenhower federalized the National Guard, stopped Dem governors from defying federal law. I wrote that. But then I went to Google and I typed in Eisenhower federalizing National Guard because, like, you know, I wanted a little more research and Google AI. So the second paragraph of my tweet was written by Google AI. And so the paragraph specifically on September 23rd, 1957. So I didn't know the date until I went into Google AI. President Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10, 7:30. I didn't know the number of the 10, 7:30. Like, the whole details of the second paragraph. The beauty of Google AI. It took me 30 seconds.

[Ben Ferguson]

It took you missing your free throws, then giving you the opportunity. Then giving you the opportunity if I

[Ted Cruz]

hit my damn free throws. All right, punk.

[Ben Ferguson]

This. None of this would have ever happened. None of this would have ever happened if it wasn't for you sucking at free throw shooting that night. I just want to be clear about what brought this opportunity.

[Ted Cruz]

Let me just say for the record, what happened the last time you played. Who's with me?

[Ben Ferguson]

You, you or someone else decided to break my finger. It's still crooked. If you can't see it right there, America. There it is. It is as a crooked finger right there.

[Ted Cruz]

I. I' just saying. You were a College Division 1 varsity athlete.

[Ben Ferguson]

To be clear, Lonsdale would back me up on this. I taped it up and played like a man.

[Ted Cruz]

You did. You.

[Ben Ferguson]

I agree.

[Ted Cruz]

You. You did not crawl up in a ball and, and, and whimper. But I'm just saying, you, like, you know, you, you, you broke bones when

[Ben Ferguson]

you decided to hoops, and I still hit my shots. You guys don't play fair. You get older, you start grabbing for stuff you can't see straight. If it's a.

[Ted Cruz]

That's how old guys play.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's how old guys play. Exactly. Exactly. So you miss your free throws. AI came and saved the day. You put out the tweet, Gavin shoots back, and that's how we got to where we are right now.

[Ted Cruz]

But think about it. Even like a year ago, to put together the details of that tweet, I would have, a year ago, probably, if I wanted to have a little substance in the tweet, I might have said,

[Ben Ferguson]

you get your team involved to.

[Ted Cruz]

My team said, hey, research, give me the exact details. I know, Eisenhower federalized the National Guard. Give me some existence.

[Ben Ferguson]

Who, when, where, and why.

[Ted Cruz]

Right. And someone would have researched it. They would have sent it to me, and then I would have included it. And instead I just did it in between games. Like, the whole thing took me maybe three minutes to type.

[Ben Ferguson]

So when. When did you. So when did you see the Newsom response? Was it after missing more free throws or was it later on?

[Ted Cruz]

It was before the game. And. And to be honest, I only set one game. I missed free throws then and won most of the rest of the time. And the couple times I lost, I hit my free throws. But. But I did once miss my damn free throws. But. But the beauty of it is it literally, so I had seen it before I started playing, and I'm like, no. And I'm sort of, you know, I don't know about you, but, like, when I'm thinking about something, I often will sort of put it out of my mind and let the back of my mind.

[Ben Ferguson]

You ponder for a little bit, you go back, and then you come back to it. Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

And it was sort of like, literally, as I'm playing hoops, I'm chewing on what kind of response I want to have. And so then when I had a break, I'm like, all right, let me type it out.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, I got to ask you, is Gavin Newsom on your top five liberals that you would love one on one debate with?

[Ted Cruz]

Oh, look, I don't know. We talked about in the last podcast how I think Newsom and AOC are probably the top two Democrat contenders for the presidential nomination. We'll see. Neither of them know what the hell they're talking about, so. So I feel confident we will. We will see them called to account.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, there's always the leering center of dyslexia. It could be in California. Gavin Newsom could be in charge of it. We know there's waste, fraud, and abuse out there.

[Ted Cruz]

And by the way, Newsom's being a doofus has nothing to do with his being dyslexic. I didn't even know the guy was dyslexic.

[Ben Ferguson]

I've never been offended as being a guy that's dyslexic until I saw his tweet, and I'm like, dude, you don't.

[Odoo Ad Host]

You.

[Ben Ferguson]

Like, this is so out of battle. Like, you have no idea what you're talking about. Like, you can be dyslexic and be brilliant. It doesn't mean that you're incompetent and

[Ted Cruz]

you can know Something about history. Like, like, like, you know, okay, fine. So you have a challenge rating because of a learning disorder doesn't mean you have to be ignorant of everything that has happened in. But when ideology trumps facts, that's when you say things like what Gavin Newsom did, by the way. It's also when you say things like AOC said, where she said, you know, she got mad at Marco Rubio for talking about all the things we've inherited from Europe, including cowboy tradition that came from Spain. And she said, why don't you try asking Mexico and Africa about that? I will tell you on Twitter. I had fun. This was another thing I said. I just said, hey, Grok, where did the Mexicans get their horses? Yeah. And of course, Grok responded from, well, from the Spanish conquistadors in the 15th century, Cortez. By the way, I pointed out, it's a little ironic. Her name is Cortez and she doesn't actually know about Cortez. Like the Spaniards bringing horses and bringing. Look, yes, the Mexican vaqueros were a predecessor to American cowboys, but the Spanish vaqueros were a predecessor to the Mexican vaqueros. But you know what? But a little Marxist like AOC or Gavin Newsom, they don't want to acknowledge that Europe existed or did anything good. And so they have to, because all is ideology. Europe must be evil.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, you can't fix stupid, sir. You just can't fix stupid. All right. This is one of my favorite shows. I enjoyed this. We gave you a curveball there, and you got to do two things you love talking about. Don't forget. And we'll get to those other issues, I promise you, in future shows. So don't worry about that. Don't forget, we do the show Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Hit that subscriber auto download button wherever you get your podcast. If you want to watch the show and you can see those clips that we were playing earlier, you can watch it on YouTube as well. And the center and I will see you back here on Friday morning. Can you buy real bitcoin in your retirement account? If not, it's time to upgrade to bitcoin. Ira, you can buy and sell bitcoin with major tax advantages. Visit bitcoin ira.comBen to learn more.

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[Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ben Ferguson]

See Terms When I was diagnosed, all

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I wanted to do was get back to work.

[Ted Cruz]

I wanted to get back to that

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trajectory that I was on prior to the cancer.

[Ted Cruz]

I always felt like I had value. I had a place on the team

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to just be treated with dignity. It means everything. Research shows there is a significant connection between the ability to continue to work and cancer recovery. We can make work a better place for healing.

[Ben Ferguson]

Learn more and sign the [e-mail] this

[Podcast Announcer]

is an I Heart Podcast.

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Guaranteed human.